Buckingham Palace has hit back at Princess Diana's brother in a rare statement, responding to allegations that a then-Prince Charles said "we'll forget her soon enough" after his ex-wife's death.
Charles Spencer made a series of allegations about the royal family in a memoir to be published this month.
The book, called Swan Song: Diana, My Sister, is being serialised by the Daily Mail. He claimed the now-King made the comments during a heated argument about funeral arrangements.
Spencer wrote that one of Queen Elizabeth's aides told him that Princes William and Harry would take part in their mother's funeral procession.
After telling the aide, "That's not going to happen", he received a phone call from Charles, who insisted it should.
Spencer claimed that during the subsequent argument, Charles made the comment: “Rest assured... we’ll forget her soon enough!’”
Spencer wrote: "'I can’t believe you just said that,’ I said flatly, before hanging up.”
The Daily Mail reported that Spencer said Charles's comments reflected "his pent-up contempt for Diana, and his horror that the world was so bowled over by her death”.
Now, in a rare move, Buckingham Palace has responded to the book and the allegations it made.
"While we do not comment on books as a matter of principle," a spokesperson said, "His Majesty is mindful that the pain of fraternal grief can cloud reason, affect judgment and colour memory in ways others do not recognise, even many years after such a loss.”
Spencer's book is set for worldwide release next week.
Next year marks the 30-year anniversary of the 1997 Paris car crash that killed Diana.
“The aim of this book is to tell the truth about Diana from her brother’s perspective, just as I attempted to do when speaking at her funeral,” Spencer said about his book.
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